When he was little he used to go to the Pagoda of the Yellow Stork in Wuhan to listen to music.
Everyone said the old man was crazy. He spoke a foreign language that no one understood, and he was dirty and smelled bad, but Gao Lian liked him because his words became Gao’s.
The monk gave him sounds that Gao made his own when they reached his ears.
When the fair woman makes soft sounds in beautiful melodies he thinks of the monk and his heart is filled with a lovely warmth that is his alone.
Gao draws a big, black heart with the crayons she’s given him.
The stomach absorbs lies if you’re not careful, but she’s taught him that you can protect yourself by letting the acid in the stomach merge with bodily fluids.
Gao Lian from Wuhan sips the water, and it tastes of salt.
For a long time they sit facing each other, and Gao gives her some of his own water.
After a while no more water comes out of him. But from his neck runs blood, and it tastes red and rather sweet.
Gao looks for something that tastes sour, and then for something bitter.
When she leaves him alone he remains seated on the floor rolling a crayon between his fingers until his skin looks black.
Every day he makes new drawings and he’s getting better and better at transferring his internal images onto the paper. His brain doesn’t have to tell his hand what to do. He just moves the pictures from a point inside his imagination onto the paper, using his arm and hand.
He learns how to use black shadows to emphasise the white, and in the meeting of contrasts he creates new effects.
He draws a burning house.
Kronoberg – Police Headquarters
INDUSTRIALIST BRUTALLY MURDERED is the headline, and when Jeanette opens the paper she sees that they’ve mapped out Per-Ola Silfverberg’s life and career. After leaving school he studied industrial economics, learned Chinese and was one of the first to recognise the importance of the Asian market for exporting companies. Then he moved to Copenhagen and became managing director of a company that made toys.
He and his wife moved back to Sweden, leaving behind a criminal investigation that was later dropped. He gained a reputation as a talented businessman, and over the years accumulated a growing number of boardroom responsibilities.
Jens Hurtig comes in, closely followed by Schwarz and ?hlund.
‘Ivo Andri? has sent his report – I’ve just read it.’ Hurtig hands her a sheaf of papers.
‘Good, then you can tell us what he’s got to say.’
Schwarz and ?hlund look expectant. Hurtig clears his throat before he begins, and Jeanette thinks he seems rather shaken. She’s just relieved that the victim isn’t another child, but a grown man.
‘Let’s see, it says, “To slaughter an animal the knife is inserted at a particular angle to reach the main blood vessels around the heart”.’
‘All men are animals, don’t you think?’ Schwarz grins. Hurtig turns towards Jeanette and waits for her to comment.
‘I’m inclined to agree with Schwarz that this looks like a symbolic murder, but I doubt it’s Per-Ola Silfverberg’s gender that’s the main reason. I’m thinking of the expression “capitalist pig”, but let’s not get hung up on that now.’ Jeanette nods to Hurtig to continue reading from the report.
‘“The autopsy on Per-Ola Silfverberg indicates another unusual type of knife injury, on the man’s neck. The knife was inserted under the skin and twisted, and then the skin was sliced open from beneath.”’ He looks around at his audience. ‘Ivo’s never seen an injury like that before. The way the artery in the victim’s arm was cut open is also unusual. It suggests that the perpetrator has a degree of anatomical knowledge.’
‘So, not a doctor, but maybe a hunter or someone who works in a slaughterhouse?’ ?hlund suggests.
Hurtig shrugs. ‘Ivo also thinks there was more than one killer. That seems to be supported by the number of wounds, and the fact that some of them seem to have been made by someone right-handed, and some by a left-handed person.’
‘So we might have one killer with some knowledge of anatomy, and one without?’ ?hlund asks, making notes on a pad in front of him.
‘Maybe,’ Hurtig replies, then looks at Jeanette, who nods without saying anything. Loose threads, nothing more, she thinks.
Hurtig goes on reading: ‘“The body has been dismembered using a sharp instrument, such as a heavy, single-edged knife. The distribution of the wounds suggests that at least the dismemberment was conducted by two people. The broader picture suggests excessive brutality, and most of the evidence indicates that it was carried out by someone with sadistic tendencies. In this context, by sadism I mean that the individual is stimulated by imposing suffering or humiliation on others. I should add that previous forensic experience suggests that murderers of the type who took Silfverberg’s life have a pronounced tendency to repeat the offence, usually in a similar way, and with a similar victim. In a case as extreme and rare as this, the relevant literature will have to be studied carefully, which will take time.”’
He puts the report down, and silence descends on the room.
Two people, with different knowledge of anatomy, Jeanette thinks.
‘What does his wife say?’ she asks. ‘Does she know if Per-Ola had received any threats?’
‘We didn’t manage to get any sense out of her yesterday,’ Hurtig replies. ‘But we’re talking to her again a bit later.’
‘Has she got an alibi?’
‘Yes. Three friends all confirm they were with her when the murder was committed.’
‘The lock was intact, so it seems likely to have been someone he knew,’ Jeanette begins, but is interrupted by a knock on the door. They wait in silence for a few seconds before Ivo Andri? steps into the room.
‘I happened to be passing,’ Ivo says.
‘So you’ve got something else for us?’ Jeanette says.
‘Yes. Hopefully a slightly clearer picture.’ Ivo sighs, taking off his baseball cap and sitting down on the desk next to Jeanette. ‘I’m assuming Silfverberg and the perpetrator met in the street, then went inside together. The body shows no signs of being tied up, so it was probably just an ordinary situation that got out of hand. But in spite of that, I think the murder was planned.’
‘What makes you draw that conclusion?’ ?hlund looks up from his notebook.
‘There’s no sign that the perpetrator was intoxicated, and no indication of mental illness. We found two wine glasses, but both had been carefully cleaned.’
‘What can you say about the dismemberment?’ ?hlund goes on.
Jeanette sits and listens. Observing her colleagues.